India is not the most dangerous country for women, my life is proof

I am writing in response to your article on the status of women in India (“India most dangerous place for women”, June 27).

I am in my early 20s, from small-town India, and would like to categorically deny the findings of the Reuters report cited in the article.

My work sees me travel on my own in the night, and neither my friends nor I have ever experienced or even heard of any kind of molestation or abuse, be it in school, college or at work.

I have relatives in three big Indian state capitals – Hyderabad, Mumbai and Jaipur. In all of these cities that I’ve visited, going out at night has never been an issue. These metropolises are very safe.

That is not to say that there aren’t places in India where the situation can turn dangerous for women – some parts of Delhi or the state of Uttar Pradesh, for instance. But then, how can one brand an entire country as dangerous because of a few bad spots?

Our nation is the seventh largest and second most populous in the world. But we don’t have as many reports of shootings and bombings or alcohol-related crimes that are witnessed in Western countries. We are not prohibited from going out on the streets without a male guardian, unlike some countries in the Middle East.

I consider it really unfair of the authors of this global report to target India.

The truth is very different.

Apurva Mahesh, Vijayawada